Navigation Menu
RG Racers: Bob Cesare
Bob gets honorable mention here...
...Because he built a bike with the intention of having it raced by Marty Miller. And he's the guy that got me started on the path of modding my RG500! So, Bob gets a whole lot of credit for the Delta!
Like so many projects, time passed, things happened, and the bike never got back together. I finally picked up all the pieces and reassembled it for Bob a few years ago -
Here's a little bit from Bob. By the way - THIS BIKE (The NASA GAMMA) IS FOR SALE
ALSO FOR SALE IS A COMPLETELY STOCK, ORIGINAL, LOW-MILE RG500
Contact Bob Cesare at temingo50@aol.com
It was a dark and gloomy day in Akron, Ohio. I don't recall what possessed me to fall in love with the RG500. Maybe it was all those Motorcycle porn magazines that had such great and mysterious articles about the legendary RG500? Anyways, the hunt ensued.
I thought I was the only RG500 nut around until I somehow came across the likes of Randy Norian and Marty Miller, each being a wealth of information and help. Somehow, one RG turned into two and since, at that time, I was doing some graphics work for an engineer at NASA, he clued me in on some hi tech vapor deposition coatings and lubricants and naturally, I had to get crazy. I wanted to be an RG500 racer.
I ventured to Canada to have the late great Alex Mayes to do the porting and heads before the coatings, using a fresh set of pistons that I balanced out within a gnats wing. Like so many others, I eventually got caught up in all things RG. Unfortunately, health problems multiplied, slowly killing off my racing dream. So, I was hoping to get my new friend, Marty Miller, to be the test pilot for the NASA GAMMA. Marty's track skills were incredible, more like surgical. I figured Marty would be a safe bet in not wadding up the mystery bike. NASA engineer, Bill Waters, was also interested in getting the engine back into the NASA's labs, for post inspections. Time got faster and I, like everyone else, got slower. It never came to be. I got to put a few break in miles on the RG, riding the horrible roads of N. E. Ohio. It was then, that I realized this was not the GAMMA's cup of tea. Oh, it ran and handled like a champ, but it was like keeping a bird in a cage. This thing needs to fly on a track or the velvety twisties of southern roads. Plus, I don't need any more points on my license.
Randy Norian was a Godsend for helping me with the NASA GAMMA. In fact, there's not enough room to type how much help he really was...a true friend.
I've got a box of NASA data papers on my engine coating for any new owner to read through and loads of spare bits. She needs to be loved and ridden by someone else with an RG addiction. Maybe they'd also want my mint box stock RG500 to keep her company. Only 2,914 km on that one. Hey, Jay Leno, are you out there?
Like I said, I collected the NASA Gamma in boxes of bits and reassembled it, then took it back to Ohio. Bob rode it a few times before it got parked again. As Bob mentioned, the "NASA GAMMA" name is because NASA literally applied the heat reflective coating to the combustion chambers and piston crowns. Here are some pix of the assembly of this unique bike:
Contact Bob Cesare at temingo50@aol.com
JMC arm - Bob has the arm but it was missing some parts, so I reinatalled the stock arm. Here's a note btwn myself and JMC:
Ceramic barrier coating applied by NASA
shaved flywheel
Carb mounts for oversized TM34s. Bob has the 34mm setup but I reinstalled stock carbs and intake for driveability. It wasn't worth the effort of sorting 34s at this point in time.
